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True Accountability Virtually all educators favor some kind of accountability system – they’re just not so sure that computer-based testing, the descendent of filling in bubbles with a No. 2 pencil, is the best way to get there. The most popular alternative assessments include student portfolios, projects, performance-based assessments, observations, or self- and peer-evaluations. These kinds of assessments measure a student’s ability to think critically, solve problems, and work with others – skills the state itself identifies as essential for success in the global, 21st century workplace. “I believe students should have some choice of how they demonstrate mastery of a subject,” Hutchings says. Shaker monitors the progress of its students three times a year through the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), which adapts to each student’s learning level and precisely measures student progress and growth for each individual. “MAP is a tool that is not bound by political whims,” said Dr. Terri L. Breeden, Shaker’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. “It doesn’t just give you a number, but instead gives you a personalized prescription of next steps for each child.” Last year, a Shaker Schools Task Force of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the new federal education law, recommended that the state use multiple measures, rather than a single standardized test, for report cards for schools and districts. It also recommended that districts accredited in research-based programs with high standards – such as Shaker’s International Baccalaureate framework – should be eligible for waivers in some state accountability measures. The District is also in the third year of a Five-Year Strategic Plan that covers all areas of District work, including academics. As part of that plan, the District last fall established its own set of metrics designed to improve teaching and learning in every classroom. “Accountability is fine, but there also needs to be some way the State Report Card records what the good districts are doing,” says Johnson, a teacher for 40 years before being elected to the State Board of Education. “As it is now, it’s causing parents and the community to lose faith in our schools.” SL 60 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SPRING 2017


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